


Familiar Stranger

by Thisinsignificantpride



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), College, Fluff and Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Smoking, longhair!kenma, smoking!kenma, taller!kenma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 20:05:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3622551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisinsignificantpride/pseuds/Thisinsignificantpride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Kuroo has been away at college, Kenma has gone through some peculiar changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Familiar Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> I found this image [ http://i.imgur.com/vNlXdxi.jpg ] and it gave me the idea for this fic. I think that even though he doesn't show it, Kenma is dependent on Kuroo and if Kuroo left for college, he might start to act out.

 

It had been four months since Kuroo had been home. Going to college hadn’t ever been on the immediate agenda for him when he was attending Nekoma, but the full scholarship he received had been enough to have his parents pushing him to think of _something_ to major in. It was stupid. He liked to play volleyball and he liked paninis and he liked fucking with people. None of that had ever amounted to college or even a single thought of higher education, but it couldn’t be helped. His major had been picked late at night with one hand over his eyes as his mouse moved blindly over a list of prospective majors at the University of Tsukuba. Fate had it that his cursor landed on business and here he was four months later, shoulder deep in homework on the train ride home to Tokyo.

Tsukuba wasn’t all that far from Tokyo — just a little over an hour by car — but with his busy schedule of keeping up with being on the volleyball team and actually trying in school, he’d been beat. He managed to keep in touch with the team back home and from what he heard from Lev, they were doing pretty well without him. It was a bittersweet realization that the team could stick together without his help. On the one hand, it was great to know that Kenma was still participating even after his absence, but a selfish part of Kuroo hoped that Kenma would miss him too much to keep playing volleyball.

It was gross, but Kuroo had always been selfish when it came to Kenma.

Looking out at the passing scenery, Kuroo smirked to himself.

_Kenma_.

“Wonder if the guy’s gotten any taller since I’ve been gone…”

 

* * *

 

 

The first place Kuroo showed up was the Kozume residence. He knew for a fact that his own parents weren’t home yet. Both of them worked all day and into the afternoon, just like Kenma’s did. It was the first day of the summer break and the former captain knew Kenma would be holed up in his room playing some sort of video game. Kuroo chuckled at the thought as he brought his knuckles to rap against the apartment door and pressed the doorbell incessantly.

There were only a few minutes of waiting time before the door was cracked open, cigarette smoke leaking out and puffing against Kuroo’s face. Kuroo stared, his eyes watering from the fumes.

“Excuse me.” He deadpanned. “I must have the wrong apartment.”

Kuroo’s dark eyes narrowed at the figure in the doorway. The smoking stranger was about as tall as him, if not an inch or two taller, with long dark hair that just reached his shoulders. His eye color was obstructed by the cloud of smoke, as well as the details of his face, but Kuroo could tell that this person was just as unamused as he was at this misunderstanding.

A moment of silence passed as Kuroo eyed the number on the green door, narrowing even farther when he saw that he hadn’t been mistaken. 202. That was the Kozumes. Did the family move without telling him about it? Kuroo gave a quiet grunt and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Listen,” he said. “Do the Kozumes still live here?”

The stranger lowered his cigarette and directed his next exhale down at his feet.

“Are you joking, Kuroo?”

Kuroo blinked. He knew that voice. His facial features scrunched up, hands waving the smoke away as he leaned forward so his face was only an inch away from this foreign man’s. One second passed… two… three…

“What the —” Kuroo reared back, his hands flying out of his pockets to grasp at the other’s shoulders. “ _Kenma_?”

The high school student gave his old friend and former captain a once over before snubbing the cigarette out.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice as monotonous as ever. “What’s the problem? You forget what I look like already? It hasn’t been that long.”

Kuroo gaped at the younger boy. To say that Kuroo didn’t recognize him was an understatement. Now that they were closer, Kuroo could tell that Kenma was an inch taller than him now. His former faux blond hair had grown out to give way to his natural black so that only the tips were dyed. It was as if Kenma had hit the jackpot of growth spurts in the four short months Kuroo had been off in college and now he was an adult  _man_.

“Why are you smoking?” Kuroo demanded, pushing his way into the old apartment to search for any other major differences.

There were none. All the furniture was in the exact same place. Kenma was even wearing a familiar shirt that was a bit too short and rode up to expose his stomach if he moved his arms too high in the air. The apartment was the same. It was Kenma that had gone through some bizarre makeover.

“Video games only help so much…” Kenma trailed off in a mutter, closing the door and moving toward the kitchen. “Do you want anything to drink or eat?”

Kuroo was staring. His eyes followed every move from Kenma as if he were an alien; he sort of was, if you thought about it.

“No. I was going to make you apple pie later, but —”

Kenma whipped around and moved to grab Kuroo by the shirt so quickly that the older of the two almost pissed himself. Kenma was taller than him now and it made Kuroo feel like the prey of some jungle cat. This new development had feelings stirring in Kuroo’s stomach that he was all too familiar with.

“Apple pie,” Kenma whispered, his golden eyes shining like a feline predator.

“No,” Kuroo muttered, pushing Kenma’s hands away and turning himself so the tint in his cheeks wasn't visible. “Later. When your mom is home to help me. I haven’t been cooking all that much at Tsukuba. I’m out of practice.”

Silence again. It was tense. Kuroo could feel the awkwardness between them as if it were a living thing, knocking itself back and forth between their chests.

Kenma frowned at his old captain, giving a huff before pushing past him toward his room.

“That’s a dumb excuse,” he said over his shoulder.

Kuroo hesitated in the living room, one hand over his abdomen. He could hear his pulse in his head as well as feel it beating throughout his entire body. It was strange. He and Kenma had always been comfortable enough around each other. They were always touching and lying all over one another, but what had just happened made Kuroo  _nervous_. As if Kenma was dangerous, a threat. It was a feeling Kuroo had never experienced before. It was  _intoxicating_ and he wanted more of it.

Following after the setter, Kuroo licked over his lips and wiggled his fingers at his sides.

“Hey, Kenma,” he called as he reached the bedroom doorway. “How about I — What the hell are you doing?”

Kenma glanced over his shoulder at Kuroo with a blank expression, his shirt hitting the floor in the same instant he tilted his head.

“It’s hot.”

“Summer has barely hit and you’re already complaining about the heat.” Kuroo clicked his tongue, his eyes roaming the new muscles that had developed over Kenma’s back. When Kenma sat on his bed, Kuroo could make out the blossoming of dark hair that trailed from Kenma’s belly button down to where his boxers clung to his skin just above his jeans.

Had he really only been gone four months?

“Honestly. What are these people feeding you?” Kuroo huffed as he plopped himself down on Kenma’s bed.

“Apple pie.”

“I doubt that.”

“It's true.”

Kuroo chuckled, rolling onto his stomach with his arms crossed under his head.

“You haven’t changed at all,” Kenma said, flicking the hair that stood atop Kuroo’s head. “That’s good.”

Kuroo screwed up his mouth to the side and snorted, scooting closer until he was able to rest his head in Kenma’s lap. “You’re making me feel like a washed up old man.”

“I thought that’s what you were.” Kenma’s facial expression didn’t falter as he spoke, but a hand did move to glide through Kuroo’s bedhead in an affectionate enough way to let Kuroo know he wasn’t serious.

More silence billowed up between the two boys. Kuroo’s stomach was doing flips and his pulse was still beating wildly in his head. The longer he looked up at Kenma, his long hair and his longer fingers making friends with his cell phone, the more Kuroo wanted to kiss him. This new look was doing wonders for Kuroo’s sex drive, but he was hesitant. Before he’d left, Kenma had been small enough to snatch up into his arms and sandwich between his body and a wall with ease. Now Kuroo was positive that Kenma could be the one sandwiching him and he wasn’t sure how that made him feel. Hot, for sure, as made evident by the squirming sensation in his stomach, but nervous as well. Mostly for the sake of his own ass.

A buzzing in his back pocket made Kuroo jump, and his face met with one of Kenma’s elbows.

“Idiot,” Kenma muttered, resting his back against the pillows.

“You better watch your mouth or no apple pie.”

Kuroo grumbled to himself as he fished his phone out of his jeans, pulling the screen into his vision only to see that he had a new text from Kenma.

“Honestly…”

**_I missed you. （￣へ￣）_ **

Kuroo raised a single brow, the red tint from earlier returning to his cheeks.

“Kenma, why are you going to send me something so embarrassing like this?”

Kenma didn’t respond, just turned his face away.

**_I changed my mind. I didn’t miss you at all. (￣。￣)_ **

“Are you not going to speak to me out loud?”

_**No. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧** _

“You might look like an old man now, but at least you still act like a little kid.”

**_I’m gonna kick your ass. ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ_ **

With a loud, dramatic sigh, Kuroo threw his hands up into the air, tossing his phone onto the floor in the process. His glared at Kenma as he sat up, his hair bouncing around before settling in its usual place. The two boys stared at each other for a long time. Or, more accurately, Kuroo stared at Kenma while Kenma stared at his phone, sending a ridiculous amount of texts to Kuroo’s phone. The buzzing kept filling the otherwise quiet room until Kuroo snatched Kenma’s cell from his hand and held it out of reach.

“Kenma,” he said. “Look at me, please. I want to catch up. What happened while I was gone? Why haven’t you been telling me you’re growing out your hair and picking up smoking and all that shit?”

Kenma muttered something unintelligible under his breath and pulled his knees up to his chest. Despite the physical changes, he still held onto old mannerisms and that brought a grin to Kuroo’s face.

“You’re the one who doesn’t answer my texts,” Kenma muttered. His fingers picked at a loose thread on his jeans. “I figured that you were busy with college and didn’t need me to bother you.”

Kuroo stared at Kenma for a long time before placing a hand on the younger’s head, forcing it down as his palm twisted over the dark hair.

“Hah? You think just because I’m busy with stupid school that it means I don’t want to talk to you?” Kuroo rolled his eyes, shoving Kenma in a way that had the younger falling onto his back. “Who’s the idiot now? It doesn’t matter how busy I am. I’d stay up all night texting you if you wanted. I missed you, too, you know.”

“Didn’t you just say that kind of thing was embarrassing?” Kenma asked, flipping himself onto his stomach so he could bury his face into the mountain of pillows on his bed.

Kuroo laughed. “When  _you_  say it, it’s embarrassing. When  _I_  say it, it’s the truth.”

“I hate you,” Kenma said into his pillows. “Get out of my apartment.”

Kuroo laughed again, leaning down to press his lips against Kenma’s bare shoulder with one hand running through the younger’s hair. Now that Kenma was embarrassed, Kuroo didn’t feel as flustered.

“Don’t kiss me, you pervert.” Kenma rolled onto his back and shot a look at Kuroo that was meant to be threatening, but only made Kuroo smile.

“You’re the one who started stripping after luring me into your bedroom,” Kuroo said, that shit eating grin of his spreading over his face. “Doesn’t that make you the pervert?”

“Shut up.”

“So mean, Kenma,” Kuroo said.

He hovered above his childhood friend, tracing a teasing finger over the exposed chest before him. Chuckling once more, Kuroo flopped himself down beside Kenma, throwing an arm and a leg around the younger boy with the same stupid smile on his face. He gave Kenma’s phone back to him, which earned a tiny grin in response. They stayed like that for a while, Kenma curling up against Kuroo’s chest like he used to. It was comfortable for the both of them, though there was more of Kenma to cuddle with than Kuroo was used to. The silence that passed over them wasn’t as tense as the others had been. Kuroo was home and they were both happy about it.

“Hey,” Kuroo said after noticing the ashtray on Kenma’s bedside table. “When did you start smoking?”

“Three weeks after you left,” Kenma admitted, squirming in Kuroo’s limbs and resting his forehead against Kuroo’s chest so his face was hidden from the older.

“Why?”

“I told you that video games weren’t enough.”

Kuroo frowned, his one arm tightening around Kenma’s body until the younger was smushed against him. His lips pressed into the top of Kenma’s head, breathing in the other's scent.

“Has it been that hard?”

Kenma didn’t answer. His eyes stayed focused on the game he was playing on his phone, but Kuroo heard the dreaded digital voice say ‘Game Over.’

“Kenma.”

“I wish you would message me first.”

Kuroo’s eyebrows jumped onto his forehead at those muttered words and his hands moved to force Kenma’s face to tilt upward so they could look at each other. Kenma’s eyes avoided his, but the tint in his cheeks paired with the quivering of his lower lip told Kuroo enough. An unfamiliar pain exploded through Kuroo’s chest. His brows furrowed as he held Kenma’s face in his hands and stared down at the younger, speechless.

Minutes passed before Kuroo’s face relaxed but he frowned, still staring at the way Kenma’s lips were twitching. He gave a soft sigh and bent his head down to press his lips gently against Kenma’s. The younger yelped and struggled for a moment, but Kuroo’s arms were strong enough to keep him from running away. Once Kenma relaxed, Kuroo pulled away and rested their foreheads together, one hand moving to capture Kenma’s in his grasp.

“I’m sorry,” he said, kissing Kenma’s nose. “I’ve been a lousy best friend, haven’t I?”

“I-idiot.” Kenma stuttered, his eyes clenched shut and his cheeks beat red. “You’re not my best friend.”

Kuroo laughed and gave Kenma another kiss on his forehead. “Yeah, yeah. Play your game. I’m gonna nap. I’ll make you apple pie when I wake up.”

The way Kenma’s face perked up at that news was enough to erase the pain from his chest and replace it with a more pleasant sensation in his stomach. He made mental notes to be better to Kenma while he was away at college. He didn’t know if he could handle coming home to another manly habit the next time he had a break.


End file.
